Search

The recent measurement of helium-4 from the near-infrared spectroscopy of extremely metal-poor galaxies (EMPGs) by the Subaru Survey may point to a new puzzle in the Early Universe. We exploit this new helium measurement together with the percent-level determination of primordial deuterium, to assess indications for a non-vanishing lepton asymmetry during the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) era, paying particular attention to the role of uncertainties in the nuclear reaction network. A cutting-edge Bayesian analysis focused on the role of the newly measured EMPGs, jointly with information from the Cosmic Microwave Background, suggests the existence of a nonzero lepton asymmetry at around the $2 \sigma$ level, providing a hint for cosmology beyond $\Lambda$CDM. We discuss conditions for a large total lepton asymmetry to be consistently realized in the Early Universe., Comment: Analysis updated with Astrophys.J. 941 (2022) 2, 167. 95% joint probability distribution now shown in Fig.1. Minor modifications of the text, conclusions unchanged. Version matches publication in Physical Review Letters

One signature of an expanding universe is the time-variation of the cosmological abundances of its different components. For example, a radiation-dominated universe inevitably gives way to a matter-dominated universe, and critical moments such as matter-radiation equality are fleeting. In this paper, we point out that this lore is not always correct, and that it is possible to obtain a form of "stasis" in which the relative cosmological abundances $\Omega_i$ of the different components remain unchanged over extended cosmological epochs, even as the universe expands. Moreover, we demonstrate that such situations are not fine-tuned, but are actually global attractors within certain cosmological frameworks, with the universe naturally evolving towards such long-lasting periods of stasis for a wide variety of initial conditions. The existence of this kind of stasis therefore gives rise to a host of new theoretical possibilities across the entire cosmological timeline, ranging from potential implications for primordial density perturbations, dark-matter production, and structure formation all the way to early reheating, early matter-dominated eras, and even the age of the universe., Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX, 8 figures

We examine a real electroweak triplet scalar field as dark matter, abandoning the requirement that its relic abundance is determined through freeze out in a standard cosmological history (a situation which we refer to as a 'miracle-less WIMP'). We extract the bounds on such a particle from collider searches, searches for direct scattering with terrestrial targets, and searches for the indirect products of annihilation. Each type of search provides complementary information, and each is most effective in a different region of parameter space. LHC searches tend to be highly dependent on the mass of the SU(2) charged partner state, and are effective for very large or very tiny mass splitting between it and the neutral dark matter component. Direct searches are very effective at bounding the Higgs portal coupling, but ineffective once it falls below $\lambda_{\text{eff}} \lesssim 10^{-3}$. Indirect searches suffer from large astrophysical uncertainties due to the backgrounds and $J$-factors, but do provide key information for $\sim$ 100 GeV to TeV masses. Synthesizing the allowed parameter space, this example of WIMP dark matter remains viable, but only in miracle-less regimes., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures. Matches published version

Recent anomalies in $^8$Be and $^4$He nuclear decays can be explained by postulating a fifth force mediated by a new boson $X$. The distributions of both transitions are consistent with the same $X$ mass, 17 MeV, providing kinematic evidence for a single new particle explanation. In this work, we examine whether the new results also provide dynamical evidence for a new particle explanation, that is, whether the observed decay rates of both anomalies can be described by a single hypothesis for the $X$ boson's interactions. We consider the observed $^8$Be and $^4$He excited nuclei, as well as a $^{12}$C excited nucleus; together these span the possible $J^P$ quantum numbers up to spin 1. For each transition, we determine whether scalar, pseudoscalar, vector, or axial vector $X$ particles can mediate the decay, and we construct the leading operators in a nuclear physics effective field theory that describes them. Assuming parity conservation, the scalar case is excluded and the pseudoscalar case is highly disfavored. Remarkably, however, the protophobic vector gauge boson, first proposed to explain only the $^8$Be anomaly, also explains the $^4$He anomaly within experimental uncertainties. We predict signal rates for other closely related nuclear measurements, which, if confirmed, will provide overwhelming evidence that a fifth force has been discovered., Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures; Corrected small typos and added references

Standard lore states that there is tension between the need to accommodate the relic density of a weakly interacting massive particle and direct searches for dark matter. However, the estimation of the relic density rests on an extrapolation of the cosmology of the early Universe to the time of freeze out, untethered by observations. We explore a nonstandard cosmology in which the strong coupling constant evolves in the early Universe, triggering an early period of QCD confinement at the time of freeze out. We find that depending on the nature of the interactions between the dark matter and the Standard Model, freeze out during an early period of confinement can lead to drastically different expectations for the relic density, allowing for regions of parameter space which realize the correct abundance but would otherwise be excluded by direct searches.

Typical LHC analyses search for local features in kinematic distributions. Assumptions about anomalous patterns limit them to a relatively narrow subset of possible signals. Wavelets extract information from an entire distribution and decompose it at all scales, simultaneously searching for features over a wide range of scales. We propose a systematic wavelet analysis and show how bumps, bump-dip combinations, and oscillatory patterns are extracted. Our kinematic wavelet analysis kit KWAK provides a publicly available framework to analyze and visualize general distributions., 21 pages, 8 figures. KWAK package available at https://github.com/alexxromero/kwak_wavelets

This document summarises the proposal of the LHC Dark Matter Working Group on how to present LHC results on $s$-channel simplified dark matter models and to compare them to direct (indirect) detection experiments., Comment: LHC Dark Matter Working Group document, 21pages, 4 figures

Physics of the Dark Universe 26, 100377 (2019). doi:10.1016/j.dark.2019.100377, Published by Elsevier, Amsterdam [u.a.]

We explore a simple model which naturally explains the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe. In this model the strong coupling is promoted to a dynamical quantity, which evolves through the vacuum expectation value of a singlet scalar field that mixes with the Higgs field. In the resulting cosmic history, QCD confinement and electroweak symmetry breaking initially occur simultaneously close to the weak scale. The early confinement triggers the axion to roll toward its minimum, which creates a chemical potential between baryons and antibaryons through the interactions of the $\eta'$ meson, resulting in spontaneous baryogenesis. The electroweak sphalerons are sharply switched off after confinement and the baryon asymmetry is frozen in. Subsequently, evolution of the Higgs vacuum expectation value (which is modified in the confined phase) triggers a relaxation to a Standard Model-like vacuum. We identify viable regions of parameter space, and describe various experimental probes, including current and future collider constraints, and gravitational wave phenomenology., Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures. Published version

Six top signatures provide a novel probe of new physics. We discuss production of six top quarks as the decay products of a pair of top partners in the setting of a composite Higgs model, and argue that the six top signal may generically provide one of the first final states to show a discrepancy. We construct an analysis based on quantities such as $H_T$ and the numbers of jets which are tagged as boosted tops, $W$s, or containing $b$-tags, and show that the LHC with 3~ab$^{-1}$ can discover top partners with masses up to around 2.5 TeV in the six top signature., 15 pages, 6 figures, and 2 tables

We construct a theory in which the solution to the strong CP problem is an emergent property of the background of the dark matter in the Universe. The role of the axion degree of freedom is played by multi-body collective excitations similar to spin-waves in the medium of the dark matter of the Galactic halo. The dark matter is a vector particle whose low energy interactions with the Standard Model take the form of its spin density coupled to $G \widetilde{G}$, which induces a potential on the average spin density inducing it to compensate $\overline{\theta}$, effectively removing CP violation in the strong sector in regions of the Universe with sufficient dark matter density. We discuss the viable parameter space, finding that light dark matter masses within a few orders of magnitude of the fuzzy limit are preferred, and discuss the associated signals with this type of solution to the strong CP problem., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Version published in PRL

An interesting class of models posits that the dark matter is a Majorana fermion which interacts with a quark together with a colored scalar mediator. Such a theory can be tested in direct detection experiments, through dark matter scattering with heavy nuclei, and at the LHC, via jets and missing energy signatures. Motivated by the fact that such theories have spin-independent interactions that vanish at tree level, we examine them at one loop (along with RGE improvement to resum large logs), and find that despite its occurrence at a higher order of perturbation theory, the spin-independent scattering searches typically impose the strongest constraints on the model parameter space. We further analyze the corresponding LHC constraints at one loop and find that it is important to take them into account when interpreting the implications of searches for jets plus missing momentum on this class of models, thus providing the corresponding complementary information for this class of models., 37 pages,14 figures. Erratum in earlier version of plots fixed

Author(s): Howard, Jessica N; Rajaraman, Arvind; Riley, Rebecca; Tait, Tim MP | Abstract: The magnetic moment of the $\tau$ lepton is an interesting quantity that is potentially sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Electroweak gauge invariance implies that a heavy new physics contribution to it takes the form of an operator which involves the Higgs boson, implying that rare Higgs decays are able to probe the same physics as $a_\tau$. We examine the prospects for rare Higgs decays at future high energy lepton (electron or muon) colliders, and find that such a project collecting a few ab$^{-1}$ would be able to advance our understanding of this physics by roughly a factor of 10 compared to the expected reach of the high luminosity LHC.

If the strong coupling is promoted to a dynamical field-dependent quantity, it is possible that the strong force looked very different in the early Universe. We consider a scenario in which the dynamics is such that QCD confines at high temperatures with a large dynamical scale, relaxing back to ~1 GeV before big bang nucleosynthesis. We discuss the cosmological implications and explore potential applications, including fleshing out a new mechanism for baryogenesis which opens up if QCD confines before the electroweak phase transition of the Standard Model., v2: Matches the published version

Physics of the Dark Universe 27, 100351 (2019). doi:10.1016/j.dark.2019.100351, Dark matter (DM) simplified models are by now commonly used by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations to interpret searches for missing transverse energy ( ETmiss ). The coherent use of these models sharpened the LHC DM search program, especially in the presentation of its results and their comparison to DM direct-detection (DD) and indirect-detection (ID) experiments. However, the community has been aware of the limitations of the DM simplified models, in particular the lack of theoretical consistency of some of them and their restricted phenomenology leading to the relevance of only a small subset of ETmiss signatures. This document from the LHC Dark Matter Working Group identifies an example of a next-generation DM model, called 2HDM+a , that provides the simplest theoretically consistent extension of the DM pseudoscalar simplified model. A comprehensive study of the phenomenology of the 2HDM+a model is presented, including a discussion of the rich and intricate pattern of mono- X signatures and the relevance of other DM as well as non-DM experiments. Based on our discussions, a set of recommended scans are proposed to explore the parameter space of the 2HDM+a model through LHC searches. The exclusion limits obtained from the proposed scans can be consistently compared to the constraints on the 2HDM+a model that derive from DD, ID and the DM relic density., Published by Elsevier, Amsterdam [u.a.]

There is a growing sense of 'crisis' in the dark-matter particle community, which arises from the absence of evidence for the most popular candidates for dark-matter particles-such as weakly interacting massive particles, axions and sterile neutrinos-despite the enormous effort that has gone into searching for these particles. Here we discuss what we have learned about the nature of dark matter from past experiments and the implications for planned dark-matter searches in the next decade. We argue that diversifying the experimental effort and incorporating astronomical surveys and gravitational-wave observations is our best hope of making progress on the dark-matter problem.

Measuring the CP symmetry in the Higgs sector is one of the key tasks of the LHC and a crucial ingredient for precision studies, for example in the language of effective Lagrangians. We systematically analyze which LHC signatures offer dedicated CP measurements in the Higgs-gauge sector, and discuss the nature of the information they provide. Based on the Fisher information measure, we compare the maximal reach for CP-violating effects in weak boson fusion, associated ZH production, and Higgs decays into four leptons. We find a subtle balance between more theory-independent approaches and more powerful analysis channels, indicating that rigorous evidence for CP violation in the Higgs-gauge sector will likely require a multi-step process., Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures

We discuss the cosmology of models in which the standard model Yukawa couplings depend on scalar field(s), often referred to as flavons. We find that thermal corrections of the flavon potential tend to decrease the Yukawa couplings, providing an important input to model-building. Working in the specific framework of Froggatt-Nielsen models, we compute the abundance of flavons in the early universe generated both via freeze-in and from coherent oscillations induced by thermal corrections to their potential, and discuss constraints on flavon models from cosmology. We find that cosmology places important constraints on theories containing flavons even for regions of parameter space inaccessible to collider searches., 26 pages, 5 figures, 5 appendices

The minimal supersymmetric setup offers a comprehensive framework to interpret the Fermi LAT Galactic center excess. Taking into account experimental, theoretical, and astrophysical uncertainties we can identify valid parameter regions linked to different annihilation channels. They extend to dark matter masses above 250 GeV. There exists a very mild tension between the observed relic density and the annihilation rate in the center of our galaxy for specific channels. The strongest additional constraints come from the new generation of direct detection experiments, ruling out much of the light and intermediate dark matter mass regime and giving preference to heavier dark matter annihilating into a pair of top quarks.

A global $U(1)_\text{PQ}$ symmetry is protected from gravitational effects in the s-confining $SU(N)^k$ product group theory with $A+4Q +N\overline{Q}$ matter. If the $SU(4)$ family symmetry is gauged and an appropriate tree-level superpotential is added, then the dynamically generated superpotential spontaneously breaks $SU(4)\times U(1)_\text{PQ} \rightarrow SU(3)_c$ and produces a QCD axion. Small values of the $CP$-violating $\theta$ parameter are then possible without any fine-tuning, as long as the product group is suitably large. By introducing a second copy of the s-confining $SU(N)$ product group also coupled to the gauged $SU(4)$, we find that values as small as $N=7$ are consistent with $\bar\theta, Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, 2 appendices

A gluphilic scalar dark matter (GSDM) model has recently been proposed as an interesting vision for WIMP dark matter communicating dominantly with the Standard Model via gluons. We discuss the collider signature of a hard jet recoiling against missing momentum ("mono-jet") in such a construction, whose leading contribution is at one-loop. We compare the full one-loop computation with an effective field theory (EFT) treatment, and find (as expected) that EFT does not accurately describe regions of parameter space where mass of the colored mediator particles are comparable to the experimental cuts on the missing energy. We determine bounds (for several choices of SU(3) representation of the mediator) from the $\sqrt{s}=$ 8 TeV data, and show the expected reach of the $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV LHC and a future 100 TeV $pp$ collider to constrain or discover GSDM models., Comment: 7 pages, 11 figues and 1 table

The center of the Milky Way is predicted to be the brightest region of $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-rays generated by self-annihilating dark matter particles. Excess emission about the Galactic center above predictions made for standard astrophysical processes has been observed in $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray data collected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. It is well described by the square of a Navarro, Frenk, and White dark matter density distribution. Although other interpretations for the excess are plausible, the possibility that it arises from annihilating dark matter is valid. In this paper, we characterize the excess emission as annihilating dark matter in the framework of an effective field theory. We consider the possibility that the annihilation process is mediated by either pseudoscalar or vector interactions and constrain the coupling strength of these interactions by fitting to the Fermi Large Area Telescope data for energies 1--100 GeV in the $15\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}15\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$ region about the Galactic center using self-consistently derived interstellar emission models and point source lists for the region. The excess persists and its spectral characteristics favor a dark matter particle with a mass in the range approximately from 50 to 190 (10 to 90) GeV and annihilation cross section approximately from $1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}26}$ to $4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}25}$ ($6\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}27}$ to $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}25}$) ${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}/\mathrm{s}$ for pseudoscalar (vector) interactions. We map these intervals into the corresponding WIMP-neutron scattering cross sections and find that the allowed range lies well below current and projected direct detection constraints for pseudoscalar interactions, but are typically ruled out for vector interactions.

We propose a theory in which the Standard Model gauge symmetry is extended by a new $SU(2)_\ell$ group acting nontrivially on the lepton sector which is spontaneously broken at the TeV scale. Under this $SU(2)_\ell$ the ordinary leptons form doublets along with new lepton partner fields. This construction naturally contains a dark matter candidate, the partner of the right-handed neutrino, stabilized by a residual global $U(1)_\chi$ symmetry. We show that one can explain baryogenesis through an asymmetric dark matter scenario, in which generation of related asymmetries in the dark matter and baryon sectors is driven by the $SU(2)_\ell$ instantons during a first order phase transition in the early universe., Comment: Version accepted for publication in Physical Review D. 11 pages, 4 figures. References added, minor changes

The 6.8$\sigma$ anomaly in excited 8Be nuclear decays via internal pair creation is fit well by a new particle interpretation. In a previous analysis, we showed that a 17 MeV protophobic gauge boson provides a particle physics explanation of the anomaly consistent with all existing constraints. Here we begin with a review of the physics of internal pair creation in 8Be decays and the characteristics of the observed anomaly. To develop its particle interpretation, we provide an effective operator analysis for excited 8Be decays to particles with a variety of spins and parities and show that these considerations exclude simple models with scalar particles. We discuss the required couplings for a gauge boson to give the observed signal, highlighting the significant dependence on the precise mass of the boson and isospin mixing and breaking effects. We present anomaly-free extensions of the Standard Model that contain protophobic gauge bosons with the desired couplings to explain the 8Be anomaly. In the first model, the new force carrier is a U(1)B gauge boson that kinetically mixes with the photon; in the second model, it is a U(1)(B-L) gauge boson with a similar kinetic mixing. In both cases, the models predict relatively large charged lepton couplings ~ 0.001 that can resolve the discrepancy in the muon anomalous magnetic moment and are amenable to many experimental probes. The models also contain vectorlike leptons at the weak scale that may be accessible to near future LHC searches., Comment: 35 pages + references, 6 figures; v2: generality of vector candidates discussion clarified, references added, published version

Low energy observables involving the Standard Model fermions which are chirality-violating, such as anomalous electromagnetic moments, necessarily involve an insertion of the Higgs in order to maintain SU(2) × U(1) gauge invariance. As the result, the properties of the Higgs boson measured at the LHC impact our understanding of the associated low-energy quantities. We illustrate this feature with a discussion of the electromagnetic moments of the τ -lepton, as probed by the rare decay H → τ + τ − γ. We assess the feasibility of measuring this decay at the LHC, and show that the current bounds from lower energy measurements imply that 13 TeV running is very likely to improve our understanding of new physics contributing to the anomalous magnetic moment of the tau.

We explore theories of dark matter in which dark matter annihilations produce mono-energetic gamma rays ("lines") in the context of effective field theory, which captures the physics for cases in which the particles mediating the interaction are somewhat heavier than the dark matter particle itself. Building on earlier work, we explore the generic signature resulting from SU(2)xU(1) gauge invariance that two (or more) lines are generically expected, and determine the expected relative intensities, including the possibility of interference between operators., Comment: 11 pages, 0 figures

This review summarizes the talk on Dark Matter Candidates: Status and Perspectives during the plenary sessions of ICRC 15 in The Hague, Netherlands. It includes discussions of theoreticallymotivated candidates which could play the role of dark matter, as well as some highlights of the current status of direct, indirect, collider, and astronomical searches which aim to shed light on its properties and identify.

Recently a 6.8σ anomaly has been reported in the opening angle and invariant mass distributions of e^{+}e^{-} pairs produced in ^{8}Be nuclear transitions. The data are explained by a 17 MeV vector gauge boson X that is produced in the decay of an excited state to the ground state, ^{8}Be^{*}→^{8}Be X, and then decays through X→e^{+}e^{-}. The X boson mediates a fifth force with a characteristic range of 12 fm and has millicharged couplings to up and down quarks and electrons, and a proton coupling that is suppressed relative to neutrons. The protophobic X boson may also alleviate the current 3.6σ discrepancy between the predicted and measured values of the muon's anomalous magnetic moment.

Recently a 6.8σ anomaly has been reported in the opening angle and invariant mass distributions of e^{+}e^{-} pairs produced in ^{8}Be nuclear transitions. The data are explained by a 17 MeV vector gauge boson X that is produced in the decay of an excited state to the ground state, ^{8}Be^{*}→^{8}Be X, and then decays through X→e^{+}e^{-}. The X boson mediates a fifth force with a characteristic range of 12 fm and has millicharged couplings to up and down quarks and electrons, and a proton coupling that is suppressed relative to neutrons. The protophobic X boson may also alleviate the current 3.6σ discrepancy between the predicted and measured values of the muon's anomalous magnetic moment.

We study a model of spin-1 dark matter which interacts with the Standard Model predominantly via exchange of Higgs bosons. We propose an alternative UV completion to the usual Vector Dark Matter Higgs Portal, in which vector-like fermions charged under SU(2)$_W \times$ U(1)$_Y$ and under the dark gauge group, U(1)$^\prime$, generate an effective interaction between the Higgs and the dark matter at one loop. We explore the resulting phenomenology and show that this dark matter candidate is a viable thermal relic and satisfies Higgs invisible width constraints as well as direct detection bounds., Comment: v2: published, udpated references, included minor changes to text 19 pages, 6 figures

The potential sensitivity to isospin-breaking effects makes LHC searches for mono-W signatures promising probes of the coupling structure between the Standard Model and dark matter. It has been shown, however, that the strong sensitivity of the mono-W channel to the relative magnitude and sign of the up-type and down-type quark couplings to dark matter is an artefact of unitarity violation. We provide three different solutions to this mono-W problem in the context of spin-1 simplified models and briefly discuss the impact that our findings have on the prospects of mono-W searches at future LHC runs., 10 pages, 4 figures; v2: matches published version

We explore a dark matter model extending the standard model particle content by one fermionic $SU(2)_L$ triplet and two fermionic $SU(2)_L$ quadruplets, leading to a minimal realistic UV-complete model of electroweakly interacting dark matter which interacts with the Higgs doublet at tree level via two kinds of Yukawa couplings. After electroweak symmetry-breaking, the physical spectrum of the dark sector consists of three Majorana fermions, three singly charged fermions, and one doubly charged fermion, with the lightest neutral fermion $\chi_1^0$ serving as a dark matter candidate. A typical spectrum exhibits a large degree of degeneracy in mass between the neutral and charged fermions, and we examine the one-loop corrections to the mass differences to ensure that the lightest particle is neutral. We identify regions of parameter space for which the dark matter abundance is saturated for a standard cosmology, including coannihilation channels, and find that this is typically achieved for $m_{\chi_1^0}\sim 2.4~\mathrm{TeV}$. Constraints from precision electroweak measurements, searches for dark matter scattering with nuclei, and dark matter annihilation are important, but leave open a viable range for a thermal relic., Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures. v2: minor revisions to match published version

We explore the reach of a 100 TeV proton collider to discover KK gluons in a warped extra dimension. These particles are templates for color adjoint vectors that couple dominantly to the top quark. We examine their production rate at NLO in the six-flavor m-ACOT scheme for a variety of reference models defining their coupling to quarks, largely inspired by the RS model of a warped extra dimension. In agreement with previous calculations aimed at lower energy machines, we find that the NLO corrections are typically negative, resulting in a $K$-factor of around 0.7 (depending on the model) and with a residual scale dependence on the order of $\pm 20\%$, greater than the variation from the scale exhibited by the na\"{i}ve LO estimate., Comment: 33 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables

This brief review outlines some of the most attractive theoretical motivations for particle dark matter, and illustrates how they fit into the bigger context of physics beyond the Standard Model. Particular emphasis is given to the generic properties of theories of dark matter, and how the mechanism by which it interacts with the Standard Model particles influences its phenomenology. Brief descriptions of the most popular models, including supersymmetric theories and theories with universal extra dimensions are discussed.

With the LHC up and running, the focus of experimental and theoretical high energy physics will soon turn to an interpretation of LHC data in terms of the physics of electroweak symmetry breaking and the TeV scale. We present here a broad review of models for new TeV-scale physics and their LHC signatures. In addition, we discuss possible new physics signatures and describe how they can be linked to specific models of physics beyond the Standard Model. Finally, we illustrate how the LHC era could culminate in a detailed understanding of the underlying principles of TeV-scale physics., 184 pages, 55 figures, 14 tables, hundreds of references; scientific feedback is welcome and encouraged. v2: text, references and Overview Table added; feedback still welcome